Hook for opening boxcar doors

ABSTRACT

A hook designed for engagement with a side edge of a boxcar door to provide means establishing a pulling connection for the door. The hook includes a body member reversely turned at one end for engaging the edge of the door. The other end of the body member has an outturned tongue portion having a slot extending partially into the body member. The slot is arranged to receive a chain for connection to a pulling member such as a lift truck for opening and closing the boxcar door.

United States Patent [191 Scdoris HOOK FOR OPENING BOXCAR DOORS [76] inventor: Perry W. Scdoris, 11115 S.E. Stark St., Portland, Oreg. 97201 [22] Filed: Aug. 16, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 280,970

[52] US. Cl. 24/73 HH, 105/369 A [51] Int. Cl A44b 21/00 [58] Field of Search 248/361 A;

105/369 A, 282 R, 286, 306; 24/68 R, 68 CT, 68 CD, 73 CE, 73 CS, 73 RH, 230.5, 230.5 BH, 230.5 R

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,025,964 5/1912 Costuma 24/73 HH UX 2,354,746 8/1944 Duzmal 24/230.5 BH UX 2,660,349 11/1953 Bei'nau 24/230.5 R X Oct. 16, 1973 3,338,186 8/1967 l-lerian 105/369 A 3,343,503 9/1967 Johnson 105/369 A 3,494,658 2/1970 Maes 248/361 A X Primary Examiner-Donald A. Griffin Attorney-Eugene M. Eckelman 5 7 ABSTRACT A hook designed for engagement with a side edge of a boxcar door to provide means establishing a pulling connection for the door. The hook includes-a body member reversely turned at one end for engaging the edge of the door. The other end of the body member has an outturned tongue portion having a slotextending partially into the body member. The slot is arranged to receive a chain for connection to a pulling member such as a lift truck for opening and closing .the boxcar door.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Patented Oct. 16,1973 v 3,765,058

:=a1 FIG. I

I HOOK FOR OPENING BOXCAR DOORS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a new and novel hook for opening boxcar doors.

Presently usedboxcar doors are constructed of heavy gauge metal and have longitudinal sliding engagement on a track supported on the boxcar. Frequently, these doorsare accidentally damaged by lift trucks or other means and are. very difficult to open. In present practice,,when the doors are stuck, they must be pried open manually. Such; practice consumes valuable work time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION.

According to thepresent invention and forming a primar-y objective thereof, a hook is provided which is artion to a pulling-; line, the. tongue havingaaslot. therein which. extendspartly into a. body. portion of the hook andarranged for receivingtheline over eitherthe front or back side ofthe tongue dependingupon the leverage to-be-impartedto-the door from-thepullingline. v

The invention. will be: better understood. and additional: objects and advantageszwill become apparent from the following description taken in connection:

with the accompanying drawings which ferred formof the device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a boxcar and loading dock, partly in section, and showing-the present hook engaged with aboxcar. door andoperating-with a pulling vehicle for moving-a boxcar door on its-track;

FIG. 2-is a perspective view of the presentzhook taken from one end'thereof; V

FIG. 3 is also aperspective view of thehook but takenfrom the other end thereof; I

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view showing engagement. of the hook-'withthe boxcar door and also showing a modifiedmanner of engagement of .the'hook by. a pulling line;,andv FIG. 5 is an elevational view. of the present hook.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first;to FIG. 1,.the numeral 'designates a boxcar of conventionalconstruction. Such a boxcar has a-sidedoor 12 operating longitudinally on atrack l4 extendingalong theside of the boxcar door for supporting thedoor 12' in open=andclosed positions relative-to an opening 16. The'numeral 18.-represents-a platform on which-a :lifttruck may'operate, although as to be understoodin connection withthepresentinvention, a lifttruck .20 or'other loading vehicle may op;- eratedirectly onrthe ground adjacent to theboxcar rather than on.a loading platform 18.

illustrate a-preprojection forming a contour of the hook which corresponds to the contour of the edge of the door to provide a contoured fitting of the hook with'the offset portion 22, FIGS. 1 and 4. The box-like filler 30 also provides reinforcement for the hook end. In addition, reinforcement of the hook end is provided by a rib 32 which extends around the exterior of the hook portion The opposite end of the body member 26 from the hook end has a curved tongue 34 turned outwardly in adirection opposite from the turned direction of the hook portion 28. Tongue 34 has a rounded end and also has a longitudinally extending slot 36 which extends partly into the body portion 26 and terminates in an enlarged'opening 38 ..The slot 36 terminates short of the outer end of the tongue 34 and is arranged to receive a chain 40, FIGS. 1 and4, by first inserting the end-of the chain through the enlarged opening'38 and then moving the chain into the slot with a link thereof extending parallel with the slot, whereby an adjacent link willbe crosswise of the slot and provide a connection with the hook. 1 i

In the use of the present hook, it is connected to one endof a chain as: just described and the hook portion 28 engaged over the edge of a boxcar door I2. The other end of the chain is attached to a pulling vehicle 20 which-can be operated to pull the boxcar door open or closed. FIG. 1 shows the pulling vehicle operating in a directionto close the boxcar door and it is obvious that the vehicle could operate in the other direction with the hook applied to the other edge of the door for opening the door.

The outwardly turned tongue portion 34 of the hook can serve as a lever in combination with the chain 40 for applying a twisting force to the door in order to pry out slightly. a bent portion-of the door which may have been pushed up against the side of the boxcar so that the latter will open more easily. In this regard, reference is first made to FIG; 1 wherein the chain leads into the slot 36 at the convex side of the tongue 34. It is apparent that upon a pull being applied-to the chain as .thusly connected to the book, a leverage will be applied to the door which acts to buckle the door outward. Thus, if a portion-of the door inward from the end is bent toward the boxcar, the chain 40'isconnected to thehook asjust mentioned so that the hook will tend to buckle, the door outwardly to provide a free running operation-of the door. On the other hand, if the edge portion of the door is bent inwardly or the door is buckled outwardlythe chain would be connected to the hook 24 in-the manner'shown in. FIG. 4, namely, it

would be inserted into the slot at the concave side of the tongue portion34. When. there is a pull on the v chain 40.as thus connected,.it is apparent that the'le- Tongue portion 34 has a pair of apertures 42 on opposite sides of the slot 36, and these apertures are adapted to receive a hook 44 attached to one end of an elastic shock cord 46 having a hook 48 on its opposite end. The purpose of the elastic cord 46 is to hold the hook 24 in place until the time that the slack in line 40 is taken up by the vehicle 20. For this purpose, the shock cord 46 may be connected to any projection on the boxcar door such as hooks, handles or the like.

It is to be understood that the forms of my invention herein shown and described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A hook for opening boxcar doors comprising a. a body,

b. a hook portion on one end of said body arranged for engagement with an edge of a boxcar door,

c. a curved portion on the other end of said body extending outwardly in a direction opposite from the hook portion,

d. means defining a slot extending longitudinally through a portion of said outwardly curved portion and into said body portion,

e. and a pull linearranged for removable attachment in said slot from either side of said body,

f. said pull line, when attached in said slot from one side of said body and when a pulling force is exerted thereto in a direction to open the boxcar door, being arranged to cause the hook portion to apply a twisting leverage in one direction to the edge of the door and when attached in said slot from the other side of saidbody beingrarranged to cause said hook portion to apply a twisting leverage in the other direction to the edge of the door.

2. The hook of claim 1 wherein said hook portion has a right angle projection therein making the inner area of said hook portion correspond to the contour of a boxcar door edge, and a reinforcing rib extending exteriorly over said hook for reinforcing the latter.

3. The hook of claim 1 including an elastic connecting line having one end connected to the curved end portion of said hook, and means on the other end of said elastic connecting line arranged to connect the line to a projection on the boxcar door for holding the hook in place on the door. 

1. A hook for opening boxcar doors comprising a. a body, b. a hook portion on one end of said body arranged for engagement with an edge of a boxcar door, c. a curved portion on the other end of said body extending outwardly in a direction opposite from the hook portion, d. means defining a slot extending longitudinally through a portion of said outwardly curved portion and into said body portion, e. and a pull line arranged for removable attachment in said slot from either side of said body, f. said pull line, when attached in said slot from one side of said body and when a pulling force is exerted thereto in a direction to open the boxcar door, being arranged to cause the hook portion to apply a twisting leverage in one direction to the edge of the door and when attached in said slot from the other side of said body being arranged to cause said hook portion to apply a twisting leverage in the other direction to the edge of the door.
 2. The hook of claim 1 wherein said hook portion has a right angle projection therein making the inner area of said hook portion correspond to the contour of a boxcar door edge, and a reinforcing rib extending exteriorly over said hook for reinforcing the latter.
 3. The hook of claim 1 including an elastic connecting line having one end connected to the curved end portion of said hook, and means on the other end of said elastic connecting line arranged to connect the line to a projection on the boxcar door for holding the hook in place on the door. 